A SCAFFOLDER threatened a man at knifepoint because he thought he was selling drugs to children, Guildford Crown Court heard on Friday.

Lee Daniels, from Blackthorn Road in Woodhatch, Reigate, was part of a gang wearing balaclavas who stormed a second-floor flat in Court Lodge Road, Horley, on February 27, then assaulting a man who was inside.

The court heard the 30-year-old pointed a 1ft-long hunting knife at the victim, while another man was carrying a claw hammer later discovered in a garden nearby.

“The defendant pointed the knife at the victim as if he was going to attack him with it,” prosecutor Jill Beale told the court, also saying that Daniels swore at the man.

“The victim tried to keep the door shut against the gang, but it was forced open,” she added. “He tried to get the knife so he would not be injured, but in doing so sustained cuts to his hand and wrist.”

The man with the hammer pushed the victim, Ms Beale said, and the gang ran off.

A neighbour called the police, and neighbourhood specialist officer PC Ian Yeo arrested Daniels as he fled the scene. The knife was recovered nearby, the court heard, but no-one else has been arrested over the incident.

Keith Goodhand, defending, told the court his client had been in custody since his arrest and had already spent 103 days on remand.

“This was not an offence motivated by malice, spite or greed, but by genuine concern,” Mr Goodhand added.

Daniels, who has previous convictions including drink driving and driving while disqualified, admitted affray and possessing an offensive weapon. A further charge of aggravated burglary will remain on file.

He was sentenced to a 12-month supervision order and banned from leaving his home between 8.30pm and 6am for a fortnight. The time spent on remand was taken into consideration.

“You should know better,” Recorder Robin Johnson told the defendant. “Even if you thought that this man had supplied drugs to a younger person, the way to deal with that is to phone the police and let them handle it – he would have been punished properly.

“To arm yourselves with weapons and put hoods over your faces was not the right way to go about this. Other people who were totally unconnected to what was going on could have been seriously injured.”